Salutations from Sunny South Florida!

[SubCurrent]

Hey guys, I'm Robert and I love to dive literally everywhere, even if it's murky, dark and cold with no vis. I see it as a challenge to increase my skills and self awareness.

Looking for strong dive buddies who are local that love the water as much as I do!

 

[BatRay]

Welcome to Deeperblue! South Florida, huh? I bet you get better diving conditions than dark and murky most of the time. I'd love to dive in Florida someday.

 

[SubCurrent]

Thanks BatRay.

Yes the beach here is very beautiful but that's not the only place I like to dive locally. You would be amazed what's in some of these waterways and I'm still not done exploring.

 

[BatRay]

I'll bet! I've heard great things about the coastal and inland diving in Florida. Do you also dive in the freshwater and brackish places? I've been told that the springs can be especially interesting.

 

[SubCurrent]

I've only freedived a couple times in the inland area, twice in New Fork River which was like a sauna at the time. It's deeper and clearer than it appears on the surface to be.

This isn't easy to admit but I did an unofficial solo midnight scuba dive in a small lake that I used to freedive in Hollywood, FL where my grandparents were living. That small lake had a depth of 55 feet! I learned that night that not having a backlit computer is a pain to monitor with a flashlight but I did it. I learned some lessons that night but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything! I plan to get properly certified as a solo diver down the road. I don't recommend it without proper equipment and training of course.

 

[SubCurrent]

I meant New River

 

[BatRay]

Sounds like you had quite an adventure! It's worth it to get the cert. I learned a lot of really good information during my SSI scuba course. Went to freediving because I was a broke student, but I'll go back to scuba someday.

 

[SubCurrent]

Yeah it was but even back then I was PADI AOW Nitrox certified. I am seriously thinking about taking a freediving course very soon. I need to update all of my gear.

 

[BatRay]

Ah, you've gone way beyond my scuba training then. I did SSI Basic, then switched to freediving. My training there is limited to the snorkeling portion of my scuba class as well as a spearfishing/freediving clinic with Julie Riffe. It was a lot of fun.

I always hear glowing reports about freediving classes. I'm planning to move to Southern California before too long, which will have more opportunity for that. I'm currently in the San Joaquin Valley, which has no freediving classes and nowhere worth diving.

 

[SubCurrent]

Yeah and the funny thing about it is I like both activities. And my personal goal with scuba or CCR is to dive to 600 ft.

I do think that the regular and tec diving community could learn a thing or two about comfort and equipment, especially relating to suits and fins.

That's too bad that you're not near any good dive sites. Forgive me but I have no idea who Julie Riffe is.

I wish I could find a non-spearfishing dive buddy who was local that shares my love of water in general, not just the open ocean because everyone loves that. It's too easy.

 

[SubCurrent]

But on the other hand I think that camo look is cool. So I'd probably look like a spearo but without a spear gun...HAHA!

 

[BatRay]

I hear you about the comfort. The stretchy neoprene in freediving suits is so much more comfortable than the scuba suits, but I guess there's a reason for that. Supposedly the drysuits are nice, but I haven't tried one.

There are plenty of folks who enjoy diving without spearfishing. Have you tried underwater photography? That would be an excellent excuse for camo, too. You'd be trying to get the good shots, but with no hunting involved.

 

[SubCurrent]

No I haven't but I'd probably opt for video over photography unless I shot something just for the heck of it. For me, I like to explore and just stare up, relaxing. I once dove under a color changing fountain and just hung there looking at it below as long as I could hold my breath, then come up and go back down again. It was awesome. But I bet very few of them are willing enough to go out at night. I think night diving is highly underrated and misunderstood.

I guess I'll try posting under the USA forum or start a thread on here. And I don't mind diving with a spearo but I'd be leary of them spearfishing at night, and most wouldn't be caught dead doing that at night anyway. I guess I'd probably enjoy underwater metal detecting perhaps since I like to cruise the bottom. I once found a small LED dark blue dive light so I guess I wasn't the only one who frequented that man-made lake.

 

[SubCurrent]

And yes, an open cell suit with Jersey lined on the outside is most comfortable. I'll never go back to a regular scuba suit ever. I heard wearing a drysuit is similar to wearing winter ski clothes sort of. I don't know how it feel in the water. The idea of being dry when in the water is strange to me.

 

[SubCurrent]

BTW I use to have a bunch of those cute little budgies back in 2009. I had a green one like yours. He would fly or walk to me when I'd call his name...ah memories.

 

[BatRay]

The bird in my photo used to call me and a few other people by their names, and when on free flight, he would fly to my hand like a trained falcon when I held it up. He developed leg paralysis a couple of weeks after I got him, and I took him to the vet for treatment. On the way home, I was feeling so sad for him, when I heard a fluttering sound in the pet carrier. I turned to look and he had flown to the front of the pet carrier to see what was happening, and since he couldn't use his legs to hold on, he was hanging by his beak while his little body swung gently like a pendulum. I laughed and felt reassured, and he ended up making a full recovery.

He lived to be 11, so there were lots of good times. Wish he was still with me, though.

 

[SubCurrent]

The bird in my photo used to call me and a few other people by their names, and when on free flight, he would fly to my hand like a trained falcon when I held it up. He developed leg paralysis a couple of weeks after I got him, and I took him to the vet for treatment. On the way home, I was feeling so sad for him, when I heard a fluttering sound in the pet carrier. I turned to look and he had flown to the front of the pet carrier to see what was happening, and since he couldn't use his legs to hold on, he was hanging by his beak while his little body swung gently like a pendulum. I laughed and felt reassured, and he ended up making a full recovery.

He lived to be 11, so there were lots of good times. Wish he was still with me, though.

Sorry for the late reply.

That's too bad. I'm sorry that happened. I have mine in my twitter background photo. I had 4. The one surviving one lived till he was 12 and the rest passed on because my neighbor didn't feed them when I went on a trip. I definitely know how you feel.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[BatRay]

Apparently they're only expected to live to 10 or so. He had a good long life, especially considering his early challenges. Still miss him, though.

 

[SubCurrent]

Yeah I miss mine too.

Mind if I start a conversation with you, which I guess is the same as a PM?

 

[Mr. X]

Welcome. The survey option list above is incomplete (you forgot the more defensive & hostile options!) & you should have allowed multiple selections as I have, I confess, told the shark joke when asked about my dive knife!* But it's not my usual response.

*It's important to tell kids you are joking though, as they sometimes take such glib comments seriously.